Long Covid: Dr Chris gives advice on supplements to fight fatigue
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We all experience tiredness at times, but it can normally be relieved by sleep and rest. Extreme tiredness is a different feeling entirely and can also be known as fatigue – when the tiredness becomes overwhelming and isn’t relieved by sleep and rest. Not sure what’s at the root of your exhaustion? The NHS has listed the 10 health conditions known to cause tiredness or fatigue.
Fatigue isn’t just an annoyance, it’s extremely dangerous to be extremely tired all the time.
Did you know that between 10 and 20 percent of all road crashes worldwide are fatigue-related?
Fatigue can also severely impact your lifestyle choices, habits and mood, so it’s important to manage your tiredness and get to the root cause.
Here are the 10 possible causes of your fatigue, according to the NHS.
Iron deficiency anaemia
One of the most common medical reasons for feeling constantly run down is iron deficiency anaemia.
Iron deficiency anaemia causes more than 57,000 emergency admissions to the hospital each year, at a cost to the NHS of £55.48 million across the UK.
Women with heavy periods and pregnant women are the most likely group to be anaemic, but that’s not to say you can’t have iron deficiency if you identify as male or you’re postmenopausal.
If you’re iron deficient, you normally can’t be bothered to do anything, your muscles feel heavy, and you get tired very quickly.
However, you could also have haemochromatosis which means you have TOO much iron, and this also causes tiredness.
This is a relatively rare inherited condition that affects men and women between the ages of 30 and 60.
Sleep apnoea
Sleep apnoea affects an estimated 1.5 million adults in the UK, and yet up to 85 percent are undiagnosed and therefore untreated.
Sleep apnoea is when your breathing stops and starts while you sleep, and it can also cause gasping, snorting, waking up a lot and loud snoring.
This condition doesn’t directly impact you in the day, but the lack of sleep associated with it can make you feel very tired during the day.
You may also find it hard to concentrate, have mood swings or have a headache when you wake up.
This condition is most common in overweight middle-aged men and drinking alcohol and smoking makes it worse.
See your GP if you think you have sleep apnoea – they might prescribe you a CPAP machine or other treatments to help.
Underactive thyroid
An underactive thyroid gland means you have too little thyroid hormone (thyroxine) in your body, and this makes you feel tired.
Other symptoms include weight gain, depression, being sensitive to the cold, dry skin and hair and muscle aches.
If you have any of these symptoms alongside tiredness, ask your GP to do a blood test to check your thyroid.
Coeliac disease
Coeliac disease is a lifelong disease caused by the immune system reacting to gluten – these people can experience a range of symptoms, including tiredness.
The condition can cause your immune system to attack your own tissues when you eat gluten.
This damages your gut (small intestine) so you are unable to take in nutrients.
Coeliac disease can cause a range of symptoms, including diarrhoea, abdominal pain and bloating as well as fatigue.
Gluten is a protein in wheat, barley and rye, and can be found in foods like pasta, bread, cakes and cereals, and one in 100 people have this reaction to it.
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Chronic fatigue syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome (also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME) is severe and disabling fatigue that goes on for at least four months.
With this condition, you do not feel refreshed after sleeping – like you have not had a proper good night’s rest.
It can also cause you to keep waking up during sleep, make you feel stiff, tired or have flu-like symptoms when waking up, and make you feel very tired and sleepy during the day.
Diabetes
One of the main symptoms of type 1 and type 2 diabetes is feeling very tired.
Other key symptoms are feeling very thirsty, peeing a lot (particularly at night) and weight loss.
If you have any of these symptoms, speak to a GP to test for diabetes.
Glandular fever
Glandular fever is a common viral infection that causes fatigue, along with fever, sore throat and swollen glands.
Most cases of glandular fever happen in teenagers and young adults, and the symptoms usually clear up within four to six weeks.
However, even when you’re recovered the fatigue can linger for several more months.
Depression
Depression isn’t just about your mood, it can also make you feel physically tired and drained of energy.
The NHS site explains: “It can stop you from falling asleep or cause you to wake up early in the morning, which makes you feel more tired during the day.”
If you think you have clinical depression, contact your GP to figure out how to treat it.
Restless legs syndrome
Restless legs syndrome involves an overwhelming urge to move your legs, which can keep you awake at night.
When you’re always jerking your legs at night, it’s impossible to get a proper night’s sleep and you will feel very tired throughout the day.
See your GP for advice – they may recommend adopting good sleep habits (for example, following a regular bedtime ritual, sleeping regular hours, and avoiding alcohol and caffeine late at night), quitting smoking and starting to exercise during the day.
Anxiety
Feeling anxious is sometimes perfectly normal, but some people have constant uncontrollable feelings of anxiety that are so strong they affect their daily life.
This can include feeling extremely tired all the time.
The NHS site recommends seeing your GP if anxiety is affecting your daily life or causing you distress.
They can diagnose your condition based on your symptoms, which may include feeling restless or on edge, being irritable, getting tired easily, having difficulty concentrating or feeling your mind goes blank, having difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep and having tense muscles.
Doctors call this generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), and it’s slightly more common in women than men.
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